https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/401/momowlam.shtml

Former British government drug advisor Mo Mowlam has died, but her voice calling for the legalization of drugs lives on. Mowlam died August 19 at age 55, felled by the side effects of radiation therapy for a brain tumor, but a book in which she calls for an end to drug prohibition, co-written with her husband, Jon Norton, will be completed by the end of the year, Norton told the London Times.

Mo Mowlam

A feisty Laborite who rose through the ranks to become Northern Ireland secretary during critical negotiations that led to the Good Friday truce agreement in 1999, Mowlam then became Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet minister in charge of drugs -- in effect, the British drug czar -- between 1999 and 2001, when she retired from politics. She scandalized the British tabloid press and mortified the Blair government by admitting during her term that she had smoked marijuana as a college student. "I tried marijuana, didn't like it particularly and, unlike President Clinton, I did inhale," she said. "But it wasn't part of my life."

Mowlam said her experience guiding British drug policy led her to the view that drugs should be sold at regulated outlets. She also argued for marijuana to be taxed and regulated like alcohol. But upon leaving office, her critique deepened.

Freed from the shackles of government service, Mowlam emerged as an influential advocate for drug legalization. In the spring of 2002, she called global drug prohibition "a failure," and that September, she linked prohibition and terrorism, although not in a way pleasing to President Bush or Prime Minister Blair. "It is clear that the present approach to drugs is not working, and if the war against drugs fails then we can be sure that the war against terrorism will also be unsuccessful," Mowlam wrote. "From my experience of being responsible for drug policy in the previous government, I came to the conclusion that the legalization and regulation of all drugs was the only way to reduce the harmful effects of this activity," Mowlam wrote, adding that she had "many reasons" for reaching that conclusion. "One of those reasons is that we need to detach the international drug business from criminality -- not least because it would further isolate international terrorism by removing the finance and other resources, such as places for training, and money laundering facilities."

"Drugs and terrorism are linked and are set to become more so," Mowlam concluded. "Legalization of drugs would stop this connection: It would begin to solve problems caused by drugs today and would isolate the terrorists."

Mowlam continued to argue for legalization in a series of speaking engagement called "Audiences with Mo Mowlam" until shortly before her death, and will make the argument posthumously in the book co-written with her husband, said the book's publisher, Polity Press. "We are very proud to publish this important book. I am delighted Jon has decided he does want to finish it," Louise Knight, Polity's editorial director, told the Times. "They are putting forward an argument for regulation, not just for a free-for-all. It is based on Mo's extensive experience."

Appropriately enough for the blunt-talking Mowlam, the book's working title is "Legalize Drugs," said Knight.

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